The Bible starts and ends with two beautiful stories about God’s communion with the human person. At the beginning of the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, there is a beautiful story about the creation of the world and the manner in which humanity lived in communion with God in the Garden of Eden. At this time, the human person is described as almost being at one with God as God walks in their midst and humans fear nothing in God’s presence. They enjoy intimate communion together . The Bible ends with the beautiful image of Heaven which is presented in the Book of Revelation. Again, here, redeemed humanity is presented as living in communion with God for all eternity at the Heavenly banquet. Those who are admitted to this banquet, will praise God with his saints and angels and know His love for all eternity. Some, who have been admitted to the Heavenly banquet, have gained their admission through their perseverance and conviction that God is with them in their trails and difficulties of life.

Throughout all the many different stories contained between this first story and last story of the Bible are many others which speak of God’s desire to be with His people. In these stories, nowhere does it say that those who follow God will not have their fair share of problems. What the Bible consistently says is that God will be with His people throughout their problems; if they open their hearts to His presence. From the time Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden, God is constantly trying to find ways to bring His people back to Himself. Throughout the Old Testament we hear the many different Covenants by which God tried to call His people back to Himself and the ways in which the people of Israel were always struggling to remain faithful to these Covenants. Much of the Old Testament is about this constant and unsuccessful struggle of humanity to attempt to be faithful to God. The first reading that we hear today from the Book of Isaiah is such a story. As his Kingdom is about to face a foreign invasion, the prophet Isaiah invites King Ahaz to ask for a sign that God is with His people. The King refuses and Isaiah tells him that a sign will be given anyway. This sign shall be the birth of a child to a virgin and the child’s name shall be Emmanuel, which means “God is with His people.”

This name “Emmanuel,” meaning “God is with His people,” is really what our Christian faith is all about. Jesus became a human being, so that we would know without a doubt that “God is with His people.” Jesus dies to forgive our sins, so that God may be with His people, despite their brokenness and and sins. These days of Advent are an invitation to all of us to become more deeply aware of the fact that God is with us and to prepare a place in our hearts where we can welcome him more deeply and intentionally. This is part of the news that St. Joseph receives in today’s Gospel from the Angel in his dream. Joseph was a man engaged to his bride with all of the same dreams and hopes that any person would bring to his marriage. In a shocking twist of fate, before he actually begins to live his married life with Mary, Joseph learns that she is with child. In the face of this unexpected development, he seeks to dismiss her quietly so that she will not face embarrassment or humiliation. As he prepares to do this, the Angel tells him that Mary’s child has been conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and that this child will be Emmanuel — God with us. This child is the Chosen One of God who has come to save God’s people. As a result of his openness to God’s will in his life, St. Joseph will live the rest of his life, despite the unexpected developments in his journey, in the presence of God.

The life of St. Joseph is a perfect example of the kind of life that we are all invited to live. St. Joseph did not have an easy life. After the unexpected announcement that his bride will give birth to the Son of God through a virginal birth, Joseph must pick-up his family and take them to Bethlehem, because the Roman Emperor has ordered a census of his entire kingdom. Once they arrive in Bethlehem, they can find no place for the child to be born. His wife must give birth in a manger. After the child is born, news arrives that King Herod of the Jews is seeking to have the child killed and the family must flee to Egypt to avoid this persecution. There they live as refugees fearing for their safety. Only later in his life can they return to Israel. Because of his faithfulness to God’s calling him to be a guardian of the Lord, Joseph’s life is filled with multiple complications. Yet, despite these many complications, Joseph lives his entire life in communion with God, as the Son of God lives under his roof and being present to him all the days of his life. St. Joseph lives so intimately with the Lord that he is called the patron of a happy death. While we do not know how or when Joseph died, the Church believes that he did so with Jesus at his side. Because of this, he was aware of God’s love for him, as manifested by God’s Son— Emmanuel— at his side. Even in death, Joseph was united to God and lived in communion with Him.

The life which Joseph lived with Christ is the life that you and I are invited to live by welcoming Christ into our own hearts. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you and I are invited to live our own lives in communion with God today. The Psalm response to today’s first reading proclaims, “May God come in; he is king of glory.” We are all invited to let the Lord into our lives, most especially at times of difficulty, so that He may enter as King of glory. Each week, when we come to Mass, we are to let Christ enter our hearts through the power of His word and the Sacrament of His Body and Blood. As we allow Christ to enter our hearts, we are reminded of His ultimate victory over all that can disturb us in this life and that He wishes to always be in communion with us. Through the different sacraments of the Church, we are assured of Christ’s presence with us. In Baptism, Jesus promises that He will walk with us throughout our lives. The Eucharist is Christ coming to us weekly as the food that we require for our earthly journey. In Confirmation, we receive that gift of the Holy Spirit that will allow us to witness to the fact that God is with us throughout our difficulties. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the Sacrament that allows us to know of God’s unconditional love for us, even when we turn our back on Him. Through the Sacrament of Marriage, God calls couples to accompany one another in His name to the Kingdom of Heaven, making His love present to one another. In Ordination, some are called to celebrate the sacramental life of the Church in order that Christ’s presence might be always known to His people. Finally, at the difficult times of illness and approaching death, the Sacrament of the Sick gives those who may doubt God’s presence in their lives at these difficult moments confidence that He is with them. At these difficult moments, the Sacraments are a powerful invitation that the Lord might come into our difficulties and remind us that He is the King of Glory who has conquered all things and will bring us to share in His glory through our own faithfulness to Him. In fact, through the sacramental life of the Church, each one of us is invited to live a life similar to that which Joseph lived, in communion with God and at peace through our difficulties due to a confidence of His presence with us.

One of the most powerful symbols of these final days of the Advent Season is the manger scene with its empty creche awaiting the arrival of the birth of the Lord. The empty creche should stand as a symbol of our own hearts standing ready for the coming of Christ into our lives. The beauty and simplicity of the manger proclaims that God wishes to be born in our hearts no matter who we are. Rich or poor, broken or whole, Jesus wishes to come and be born in our midst. In order for Jesus to be born into our homes and families this Christmas, we need only to look to Joseph and Mary for examples as to how we welcome Him. Both Mary and Joseph opened their hearts to Christ’s coming into their midst. By our own openness to the possibility of the King of Glory coming into our lives, we too can welcome Him into our midst. This requires only an awareness of our need for a Saviour to come and love us. We can invite Jesus into the poverty of our situations by quietly sitting and asking Him to be born in our difficulties by the power of the Holy Spirit. An openness to his coming does not involve telling Him what to do, but merely believing that He will be true to His name “Emmanuel”— God is with us. The simple and beautiful prayer that we are all called to make in these final days of Advent is: “May the Lord come in; He is King of Glory.”

In these final days of Advent, may we all open our hearts to God’s coming to save us.

Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor— St. Peter’s Church, Toronto